Yonder Bognie

Stone Circle

Yonder Bognie (Stone Circle) on The Modern Antiquarian, the UK & Ireland's most popular megalithic community website. 15 images, 3 fieldnotes, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland.

Images (click to view fullsize)

Fieldnotes

After a suitable lunch at the nearby Bognie Arms I walked back along the A97 to Yonder Bognie farm, jumped a couple of fences and made it to the circle. Abeit I was waist deep in snow. I've been here many times before but today it was extra quiet, extra beautiful and much more atmospheric. It was almost if the circle was at peace with itself almost enjoying the silence. All due to the weather and the A97 being devoid of traffic.

We asked at the farm, rather than at the cottage with nasty plastic swans in the garden. A friendly young man of dangerously fat proportions who was tinkering with a tractor in the yard told us it was OK to go in and have a look. He seemed quite pleased to have a visitor.

The circle is pretty trashed and looked shabby because for some reason it has recently been fenced off, so it hadn't been grazed and was full of nasty weeds.

This is an interesting enough RSC. Nothing very remarkable about it but it's in better nick than many.

I usually take copies of Thom's plans to a site mainly as a handy starting point for my own scribbles. On this one he has the recumbent and flankers in the SE quadrant. They're not. Makes you wonder, eh?

Anyway, of more interest, he refers to an outlying menhir in the SE having been removed by the farmer and his drawing shows the recumbent and flankers lying inside the circumference of the circle. Not unusual when there is a ring cairn but no evidence of that here.

Access The easiest way into the site is via the farm to the N on the E of the A97. I asked there and, although the circle is not on their land, they were happy to let me cross and to park in their yard.

Miscellaneous

If you ask the present occupiers to see the circle chances are they will be very helpful. I was shown inside one of the barns. Notches showing the heights of various Shand children over almost the last 500 years are marked on wooden posts. The Shand family only recently, 10 years ago, left Yonder Bognie. The daughter of the last Shand occupants still visits the circle with her daughters.